The Lucasville Uprising was a rebellion against oppressive and racist policies at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville, OH. Nine inmates and one guard died during the uprising in April of 1993. Today, many people are serving time or condemned to death by the state of Ohio in relation to the uprising. We demand amnesty for all of these inmates. The conditions at SOCF were (and still are) intolerable and unconscionable.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Talking Points and Ways to Support Keith While We Wait for the Hearing Date.

On March 8, friends and family of Keith Lamar gathered in Youngstown to discuss and strategize going forward. Communicating with Keith via telephone, they developed a list of talking points, and action items.

The first action, is emailing Tavis Smiley (at tavis@tavistalks.com) to request that he interview Kieth on his show. Talking points and more support actions below.

Talking
Points Going Forward

Keith
was NOT a part of the riot. He was out on the yard when it began and
was rounded up by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on the first day.

Keith
was sentenced to death for allegedly presiding over the deaths of
five inmates, individuals who were suspected of being snitches.
There is NO DNA, forensic, or physical evidence linking Keith to ANY
of these crimes.

During
his trial, Keith’s lawyers requested, but were denied, evidence
that could have proven his innocence. Since being convicted and
sentenced to death, Keith has been able to uncover some of the
damning evidence that was willfully withheld by the Prosecution:

A
member of the Black Gangster Disciplines, one of the gangs said to
have presided over the uprising, came forward and admitted to
committing one of the murders for which Keith was convicted and
sentenced to death. His name is Aaron Jefferson, and his confession
is posted online at www.keithlamar.org.

Several
months before Keith was indicted for the death of a suspected
snitch, William Svette, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, one of
the other gangs said to have presided over the riot, had already
been indicted for the very same crime. His name is Frederick Frakes
and his indictment is posted online at www.keithlamar.org.

In
2007, Keith was granted an evidentiary hearing to ascertain whether
or not he was deprived of a fair trial due to the Prosecutor’s
refusal to turn over favorable evidence during his trial. The
prosecutors were put on the stand and questioned about their
conduct during Keith’s trial. The judge subsequently decided that
the State had, in fact, used what was termed a “narrow standard”
to determine what constituted exculpatory (favorable) evidence.
Keith had a constitutional right to review any evidence that could
help him build his case; rather, he was deprived, in his trial, of
the opportunity to properly mount a defense based on many withheld
statements, actual confessions of perpetrators, other indictments,
etc.

Because
of this ruling following Keith’s evidentiary hearing and other
factors that deprived Lucasville defendants of a fair trial, the four
other death-sentenced inmates’ cases have been put on hold while
their attorneys comb the prosecutor’s files in search of evidence
that can prove their innocence. Keith attempted to prevail upon his
attorneys to file the necessary motions so that he could be a part of
this very important process; but they, for some unknown reason,
refused to do so, leaving Keith in a lurch. Indeed, he is the only
one NOT benefitting from the ruling made from HIS evidentiary
hearing; his case is barreling along through the courts. As a result,
Keith has not spoken with his attorneys in over a year now and has
elected to take his case to the court of public opinion.

Below
are a few things you can do:

Take
our message to your constituents so we can build a support network.
This is key to show the courts their upcoming rulings will be
noticed.

Schedule
Keith to speak with your youth groups, social justice groups. He can
do call-ins and is a powerful and motivational speaker!

Plan
to attend and ask others to join you at the oral argument in
Cincinnati and be Keith’s eyes and ears. You can be notified by
e-mail or phone of the exact date, time and location as soon as the
court sets the date by sending a message to info@keithlamar.org
or give your information to one of the organizers you know.

Order
Keith’s book online from Amazon or get it at Barnes and Noble in
Boardman. Please read it and keep passing it on. Talk about it.

Make
a financial contribution to help Keith buy/send books to spread the
word to journalists and radio personalities. Share this book with
folks you know.

Send
letters/emails to radio and news media folks you know asking them to
carry this story.

Go
to www.keithlamar.org and add your words of support, read his
articles, peruse his media gallery, etc. Add your email address to
the list serve to get updates.

*Please
do not mail $ directly to the prison/do not make checks payable to
Keith, as he is not permitted to benefit financially from his
book. Contributions may be sent to: PO Box 3656, Youngstown, OH
44513. Please make checks/money orders payable to A. Gordiejew,
with a notation: Native Sons